Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales) to increase a healthy 4% to $616.9 billion, higher than 2013’s actual 3% increase during that same time frame. This would mark the first time since 2011 that holiday sales would increase more than 4%.

Holiday sales are projected to grow at their fastest level in years, rising 4.1% to nearly $617 billion after a 3.1% increase last year, according to an annual forecast released by the National Retail Federation.

New York -- Cautious spending and economic realities that are bifurcating the American holiday shopper into two distinct segments are two of the 10 trends that are expected to drive the 2014 holiday shopping season, according to a new report from PwC US and Strategy.

Franklin, Tenn. – Mobile POS technology is growing in popularity among retailers, particularly in the enterprise space, according to the new Mobile POS Software Market Share report from global research and advisory firm IHL.

New York -- By 2023, online grocery sales are projected to range between $80 billion and $123 billion according to statistics released by Steve Bishop of Brick Meets Click (BMC) in a presentation at The Food Institute webinar "Get In On The Growth of Online Shopping." If realized, at the middle of those two projections online grocery sales would exceed today's sales of the nation's largest supermarket chain, Kroger.

How well many retailers perform this holiday season in store and online will be determined by the shopping preferences of a demographic group that doesn’t typically get a lot of love from marketers.

Denver – In the past two years, the number of shoppers using mobile devices to make purchases has increased by 10 percentage points to 35% in 2014 from 25% in 2012. According to a new study by The Integer Group, increased purchasing by Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and the 15–34 and 35–49 age groups were largely responsible for this increase.

Spending on consumer electronics this holiday season is projected to reach a record level of nearly $34 billion as shoppers clamor for ultra high definition televisions, smart watches, tablets and a new crop of smartphones.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) predicts the 2014 holiday season will see the highest levels of consumer spending on consumer electronics since the group began tracking the category two decades ago. The trade group’s holiday outlook envisions total tech spending increasing 2.5% to $33.76 billion.